The Matchmaker
by NerdyGerl
Summary: Now that Brennan is home, she is determined to have a more personal relationship with her squinterns. The only problem is, she has no idea what she is doing.


Disclaimer: I still don't own Bones, but I'm still pretty obsessed.

Author's Note: After a long hiatus I am trying to be better at writing. This one-shot came about because I was trying to get something written down. Also, I don't usually write about the squinterns much. I just wanted to write something a little fluffy. Also, when Genny first arrived, everyone wanted to pair her off with Lance and give Daisy the boot. Not that I don't agree with pushing Daisy off a cliff, but I thought that Wendell deserved a little loving. Enjoy.

* * *

The Matchmaker

"Bones?" Booth called into the kitchen as he loosened his tie and pulled off his suit jacket. He noticed the table was set with extra care as well as extra place settings. "Are we having company for dinner?"

Brennan walked into the dining space, drying her hands on a towel. "Yes, I've invited some guests for dinner."

"Guests?" Booth asked, doubtfully.

"Yes, guests."

Booth pursed his lips, "OK, want to tell me who those guests are?" When she didn't immediately answer, he groaned. "Please don't tell me that some anthropologist that you find vastly inferior is in town, and you somehow have to pretend to respect his work and I have to entertain his wife, who for no explainable reason is 22, blond and dumber than a rock."

"No."

Booth exhaled a relieved sigh and then groaned, "Come on, Bones. It isn't fun to tease me. Who is coming over?" She whispered something and ducked back into the kitchen. He continued to call after her, talking more to himself than to her. "I'm sorry, what? I didn't catch that. Is your dad coming over? That's no big deal. We still get along, even if I am sleeping with his daughter. In fact, I invite him over more than you do."

Brennan finally responded to him over the clattering of pans. "It isn't my father. I invited over Mr. Bray and Agent Shaw."

Booth reached over for his daughter in her playpen. She squealed at her father's attention and he cuddled his daughter while talking to his partner. "That's great. Genny doesn't get out much, and Wendell is my favorite squintern, we'll have a good..." His excitement suddenly took a nosedive as he put two and two together, and his daughter's flailing arm whacked him in the face. "Wait... wait just one minute. You are trying to set them up! Bones, get back out here!"

Brennan poked her head out of the kitchen. "I'm not setting them up. I just think that they are two compatible individuals that would provide us with an entertaining evening."

Booth chewed on the words. "Two compatible individuals. Bones, you are totally trying to set them up. You don't do things like that. It's so not you."

"Angela thinks that I should take more of an interest in the personal lives of my interns. Most of them will be finishing their doctorates soon and will be moving on. She thinks that I should savor the time with them while I can. And I quite agree. If my time away taught me anything, it is that I miss members of the lab when I am separated from them."

"So, you're setting up the only squintern that I have anything in common with and my most promising junior agent."

Brennan flashed a brilliant smile at him. "Yes. Exactly. I am so glad that you understand."

"Bones, no." Booth groaned and Christine laughed as the deep rumble tickled her.

Her smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"This evening is going to be a disaster, and I am going to lose my best center and an outstanding agent."

Brennan frowned. "Why would it be a disaster? The food is excellent, we all have common areas of interest."

"Bones, our common interest is murder!" Christine was startled into silence at her father's tone and he spent a few minutes cajoling the girl into smiling again. When he had finally coaxed a giggle out of his daughter, he turned back to his partner who was now frowning slightly.

"What's wrong with that?"

"One: it isn't polite dinner conversation. Two: people need more in common than just their jobs. And three... and three... well, there has to be a third reason."

Brennan smirked, "You know, murder was all we had in common when we first met." She walked over and smoothed her hand along her daughter's cheek. "And now look what we have together." When she looked up, her partner was staring at her with softness in his eyes.

He scrunched his nose, sighing in defeat and then smiling in amusement. "You and your logic. All right, Bones. We'll give it a shot."

"Thank you." She reached up to give him a chaste kiss as the doorbell rang. She flounced off to open the door, Booth shaking his head at her. Since her time away, Brennan had been much more focused on personal relationships, and while her efforts were usually misguided, they were endearing.

"Christine, your momma just can't stay out of trouble, can she?" Christine blew a spit bubble in response.

* * *

Three of the four adults sat uncomfortably around the table, while Brennan chatted on about Wendell's latest submitted journal article and its repercussions in the field of forensic anthropology. "It is quite an accomplishment, don't you think so, Agent Shaw?"

Genny looked up from her plate. "Yes, very impressive."

Brennan smiled widely again, and looked at Booth trying to get him to brag about his agent. At Booth's continued silence, Brennan decided that she had knowledge of Shaw that would impress her intern. "It is. Booth, why don't you tell Mr. Bray about Agent Shaw's interview with Curtis, it was critical to solving the Donovan case."

Genny interrupted, "Really, Dr. Brennan, it was just my job, and Dr. Sweets was right there with me."

Booth turned his attention from feeding his daughter to the conversation, "Don't sell yourself short, Gen. Sweets got nowhere with the guy. You've got a real future in interrogation." He puffed out his chest. "Of course, I taught you everything you know."

Genny blushed at the praise from her mentor. At the newest lull in conversation, and a kick in the shin from Brennan, Booth spoke up. "So, Wendell, you ready for hockey season to start up again?"

Wendell, who for his part had been virtually silent for the evening grinned, "Yeah, I've been getting some ice time at the local rink when I get the chance. It's nice getting to fly, great stress relief." Wendell folded under Brennan's stern gaze. "Um, Agent Shaw, do you like to skate?"

"Genny." She answered quietly.

"What?"

"You can call me Genny. Umm, I never really skated. I was really more of a computer geek when I was younger. I have a brother, so I used to play a lot of video games with him. I think I still have an original Nintendo somewhere. Did you ever play?"

Wendell frowned. "No, not really. Couldn't really afford it growing up. Spent most of my time playing stickball and working odd jobs."

They lapsed into silence again. Brennan glared daggers at Booth, but he just shrugged his shoulders. This dinner had been all her idea. As he predicted, this evening was quickly headed towards failure.

Brennan's eyes lit up with a new idea and turned to Genny. "Angela says that Mr. Bray is a very satisfying sexual partner." Wendell didn't think that it was possible to blush any deeper as when he had arrived at the Brennan-Booth home and realized that his boss was trying to get him a date, but he imagined that his face now resembled a tomato. Genny focused on cutting her mashed potatoes.

"Bones!" Booth stage-whispered in exasperation as he covered Christine's ears. "Wildly inappropriate, just so you know."

"I was trying to provide a new topic of conversation. And perhaps Agent Shaw is interested in Mr. Bray's sexual prowess."

"How about how Wendell helped us with restoring the house? Or that he is a certified mechanic?"

Brennan smiled, thrilled that Booth had provided new fodder for conversation. "Yes, Mr. Bray really knows how to work an engine." She was completely oblivious to the alternate connotation of her statement, but the others weren't. Wendell had just taken a sip of water and did a spit-take over the table, spraying the leftover food and Agent Shaw.

Booth threw his arms up in the air. "I give up. Just as I predicted, this night is now officially a disaster."

At Booth's dramatics, Genny started giggling, and at Wendell's answering snort, her giggles turned into peals of laughter. Christine joined in, her childish squealing bringing in Booth's own laughter. Only Brennan remained, stoic, not quite understanding the joke.

As they eventually calmed, Wendell looked to Genny, handing her an unused napkin. "I'm really sorry about that."

Genny wiped her face off, "No worries, I've had worse."

"Me too, did you ever hear about the time that Hodgins roped me into an experiment and I ended up covered in pond scum?"

She smiled, "No, did Booth ever tell you about the Seaver case? I had to question the suspect out on his farm. His mother-in-law lived with him and she was suffering from Alzheimer's. I showed up and she thought I was having an affair with her dead husband. She kept throwing rotting vegetables from her garden at me. I got home and still had wilting lettuce in my hair."

The pair continued to share stories of their biggest messes on the job, while Brennan looked on in superiority, and grabbed dessert to share with the table. Christine added to the conversation by smearing her small piece of cake around her face and then throwing a handful of crumbs at the table when she wasn't receiving enough attention.

Booth plucked her out of her high chair and wiped her down. "You want to talk about messes, this one here takes the cake."

"Literally," Brennan added with a smirk.

Wendell reached over for the girl, and Booth handed her over. Wendell cooed at the baby. "Hello, Stapes. You've gotten so big. You are going to be a heart-breaker, aren't you? Yes, you are. You are just the prettiest baby in the world, aren't you?" Wendell looked up sheepishly at the silence around him. "Sorry."

Booth sipped at his beer. "No worries, she is a very pretty baby. We like her a lot. We think we'll keep her."

Genny now reached over to play with Christine's outstretched hands. Christine babbled, very pleased with all of the attention that she was now receiving. Shaw looked up at Wendell, "You're really good with her."

"Thanks. Although she's easy to get along with."

Booth stood up, grabbing some empty dishes, "Well, while you two have her distracted, Bones and I will clean up."

Brennan waved him off. "I can do that later, Booth."

Booth jerked his head toward the kitchen, then whispered to his partner. "C'mon, Bones. We'll clean up, give them some alone time." He waggled his eyebrows, and Brennan gasped with realization, grabbing a few plates of her own and joining him on his journey.

When they were in the safety of the kitchen, Brennan turned to her partner. "I see, you are giving them a chance to get to know each other without our interference. Very clever."

"Yeah, I'm a genius." Booth smiled at Brennan, dropping his dishes in the sink. She tapped his shoulder and he turned around, into her embrace. She kissed him rather passionately. "What was that for?" He asked when she released him and focused her attention on the dishes.

"You were very helpful. Despite your declaration of disaster, this evening has been rather successful. I feel that Agent Shaw and Mr. Bray have found areas of common interest that don't include murder."

"Well don't get ahead of yourself. I can already imagine you and Angela planning their wedding. Let's just focus on getting through tonight." Brennan agreed and turned to clean some counter-space. This time it was Booth that poked her in the shoulder, and she found herself in his embrace. "Then again, we don't have to rush things. They seem to be having a good time."

While little cleaning was happening in the kitchen, Wendell continued to hold the baby. He and Genny had talked about their bosses' kid for a few minutes and then ran out of conversation again. Wendell cleared his throat, "So I'm really sorry about tonight. I know it was really awkward. I didn't think that Dr. Brennan would ever play matchmaker for me."

Genny smiled, "Yeah, Booth had no idea. He looked like he wanted to crawl under the table the entire night. It was actually really entertaining. And for the record, I had a nice time tonight."

Wendell's head whipped up in surprise, "Really?"

"Really."

Wendell studied the woman before him for a moment, before seeming to make a decision. "Would you maybe like to grab a coffee sometime?"

Genny looked down at her lap. "I don't know."

He nodded, "Right, of course. Just thought I'd take a shot. No worries."

"It's not you, it's me. Really."

"No, I get it. And we can totally just be friends, maybe we can help on some cases together. Anything to boost the resume, right?"

Genny chewed her lip before responding. "Look, I've got a kid... a son. His name is Danny, and he just turned four, and his dad isn't around, and," She paused. "I usually don't tell people that. I'm just not really looking to date right now."

"Oh, right."

She shook her head at him. "You really just go with the flow, don't you? Dr. Brennan mentioned earlier that you had to quit school when your scholarship got cut, and you just found a job and started saving again. And clearly you used to date Angela, and now she's married to a guy you work with and they have a kid, and you must see them all the time, and from the way you were talking about them earlier, you are good friends with them. And tonight, Dr. Brennan gets it into her head that you need a date, and you sit through this awkward dinner, and you play with her kid, and decide that I'm nice enough that you ask me out. And I turn you down, and you just offer to work with me sometime. Are you a glutton for punishment?" Shaw took a deep breath. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that. I tend to talk too much when I get nervous."

Wendell smiled at her nervousness. He decided that he liked her shyness. "Not really a glutton for punishment. I guess I'm just a nice guy."

"And very talented from what I hear." Genny's eyebrow raised as she teased him, a little shocked at her own boldness. She decided that she liked teasing him when his cheeks once again turned a deep red.

"So what does a nice guy like me have to do to get a date with a nice girl like you?" He held up Christine, who had been entertaining herself by chewing on her own hand. "Look at her, the kid is practically begging you to come out with me." He imitated a child's voice. "Please, go out with Uncle Wendell. He's a nice guy, and he thinks you're pretty."

Genny laughed out loud as he continued to extol her virtues in a baby voice. Christine just looked bored at being cast in the role of puppet. "OK, OK, stop torturing the baby. I guess I can get one cup of coffee with you."

"Really?"

"Only if you agree to stop talking like a deranged toddler." Christine's arms reached for the agent, and Genny pulled her away from Wendell.

"Sounds like a deal to me. Uh, can I get your number?" He pulled out his cell phone and dangled it in front of her. Christine quickly grabbed it and shoved it into her mouth. A brief wrestling match followed, but eventually the phone was programmed and safely stowed away, and the baby successfully distracted from the loss of her new toy. Silence descended on the small group.

Wendell had a mischievous look. "So have you noticed that it's been really quiet for a while?"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Genny smirked and bounced the baby in her lap.

"That your boss and my boss are making out in the kitchen?"

"Totally."


End file.
